Making your presence known or being quiet?

[wiiawiwb]

I've always thought the best strategy for getting a sighting would be for one person to be in the woods long-term at a camp. Keep a quiet, low profile that appears safe for a sasquatch to come closer to investigate. Give it the opportunity to find out who is in its domain. 

 

The rub is long-term. I don't have two, three, or four weeks to stay out in the woods and let it come to me. If I am only staying in the woods for the weekend, an overnight, or even for just the day, how will it know I'm there?  One option is to be quiet and hope the area was perfectly chosen because a sasquatch is already there or just be lucky enough that it is passing through. Option two, is to purposely be vocal, or visual, enough to draw it in while I'm there. 

 

I've got my own MO, which I'll describe later, but am curious about yours. Have you tried both options and which method do you prefer now?

[NorthWind]

I know I will never sneak up on one. They know when human is near I am sure.

 

That said, I like being quiet because I like to listen to all the other sounds of nature. Oh sure, I still talk and go about my business as usual. I step on sticks and stuff as I walk. Virtually unavoidable here. But I am very alert in the woods. I pay attention to the direction of the wind, and am often sniffing the air. My nose seems to be a bit more acute than most people. So, I like the quiet for ME, not for them.

 

One thing I have wanted to try is to set up a decoy tent, possibly with the sounds of a baby crying or cooing coming from it, and set up in the back of my truck and monitor the tent from a distance. 

[vinchyfoot]

Being quiet doesn't nessicarily mean sneaking up on them, but it can lead to greater awareness of your surroundings, also I just think it's more detrimental if you are obvious in why you're there (wood knocking, call blasting, etc)

[SWWASAS]

My first encounter was as I have said when three blundered into me.     I had been hiking a trail in the area,   got to a point where the trail was overgrown with blackberry vines and I decided not to get scratched up by going that direction any further.   I reversed direction, started down a crossing trail, then changed my mind about going that way too.     I was headed in a third direction, when I heard them coming towards me from the original direction of travel.  They were whooping back and forth at each other on opposite sides of the creek I was near.    At the time I thought they had been following me since that was the direction they had come from.     One on my side of the creek nearly ran over me.   It saw or smelled me and went to the ground in a crouch before bursting in sight.   .     Since then I decided if they were hunting me down because they had seen me earlier, they would not have stopped when they detected me.     They would have confronted me,   done a bluff charge,,  or something worse.       I just happened to be there where they did not expect any humans that day.    I was the only one in the area.  

 

Because of that accidental success at contact,   I continued to use the same tactics.   Move quietly,  frequently reverse direction,  and hope to catch one in the open who did not know I was in the area.   Sometimes just move through an area and get in the shadows and sit and wait for one following me.       Soon one older juvenile,  decided to mess with me.   Throwing rocks, planting a glyph behind my back,  and seeing how close he (he is an assumption)  could get without being seen.  I heard his footsteps several times as he would approach or throw something but never saw the older juvenile.   Once I heard a young female sounding voice speaking something that sounded similar to Chinese.  It is possible that the juvenile was that female when it was a few years older.  I just don't know.   

 

After several years I decided to change tactics because nothing was working and detect and track them.    I had gotten to where I could hear the soft, nearly infrasound thudding of their footsteps when they moved about.  .   So I started moving towards that when I heard it trying to get them to break cover.     I found that that did now work because in a wooded area, they could move faster than I could.     I did get one up against a ridge, but before it broke cover moving away, it growled at me and one that had been flanking me from behind broke off a tree to warn me to quit what I was doing.       I went directly to the edge of the nearby clear cut and out into it, avoiding any attempt to follow me.    They let me go.    I am guessing that in difficult heavily wooded terrain,  with lots of down trees,   they can move twice as fast as we can.  Maybe faster than that.      The one I cornered, I could hear moving tree to tree, as it moved away from me.   I never got even a glimpse of it,  because it seemed to be moving tree to tree away from me.  A human could not have done that. I am guessing the BF used the trees and crouch to avoid being seen.    A lot of blow down trees made it easier for it and harder for me to follow at any speed.      Given their speed, and the fact they do not like to be chased down,    I would not recommend this technique simply because of how fast they move.  

 

One technique sure to let you know they are around because you hear movement, is to openly urinate where they can see you.    Two different times I managed to do that and twice got a chest slapping response like a gorilla bluff charge.  I am guessing that males think you are claiming their territory.  The first was accidental and I had just parked my truck at the trail head.     The second time I heard them and needed to go, so did it intentionally.   I was escorted out of the woods back to my truck.  That one wanted me to leave and sort of did a chuffing thing to encourage me to leave when I got back to my truck.    Anyway,   perhaps the urination thing is not a good idea.    Certainly things seemed very unfriendly at the time, but the two events were miles apart and unlikely to be the same BF involved in both.   I survived the experiment but did not get anything out of it like visual contact.  

 

My suggestion would be to mix it up,   be unpredictable,   and try to be in the way when they are moving about.   The best tracker might be able to follow them but you will never catch up. 

Edited August 4, 2020 by SWWASAS

[MIB]

I prefer a balance of noise that draws attention and curiosity without being threatening.    Having 1-2 friends can make that easier.    Talk.   Joke.   Laugh.   Cut some firewood.   Fish.   If one of the friends is a kid, play catch.   Mixed gender, mixed age.   Look like a family having fun, not like a military unit doing covert ops.   Be comfortable in  your environment, project calmness and confidence.  No bluster, no acting all tough to cover fear of the woods and fear of the dark.   Lot of people don't seem to know the difference.   I think 4 people is absolute max .. too many eyes from camp makes their approach risky.   I do not try to do serious bigfooting with larger groups.   There are things to do, share info, enjoy friends' company, practice camp cookery, and you can surely look for tracks and listen for distant sounds, but the odds of them approaching us goes down when the group is too large ... IMHO anyway.   Not impossible, just less likely.

 

By myself, I do roughly the same thing but with less noise.    Still, the sound of chopping wood carries.    Then get out in the open along a lake or stream and be seen.   

 

The important things are to be interesting and don't not to appear sneaky, aggressive, or afraid ... in other words, appear safe to approach.

 

MIB

[wiiawiwb]

I used to go out sasquatching with two friends and we had a good time while also getting some results.  Red eyeshine one night looking at us. It really scared one of my friends who said, "I knew I shouldn't have come". Then, the following Spring the same three of us had something throw an object close to us while a nearby tree limb was twisted and ripped. That was it for him. He will go out during the day but will no longer stay at night.

 

My approach, when by myself, has been to be as stealthy as possible. As I move about in the woods, I am careful of every step made so as to be as silent as possible. Ninja-like. No snap of a twig to give away my location. I'm sure if seen, it would be viewed negatively. Sneaky. I try to quietly get to strategic spots and then just silently and wait in hopes of something coming toward me or moving through the area.

 

I will do a single wood knock (but only once) which has gotten responses in the past that I am confident were not people. Once again,  I sit and wait in hopes that something will come toward my knock location. Now, I have the thermal so if it does approach silently, I'll try to catch it on "film".

 

I'm going to try a few new "tricks" to see if they work. As night time approaches, I will hang a light in my tent so it glows and play a video recorder of me talking every few minutes, or so.  I will have moved to a spot where I am can sit in a leafy-ASAT suit and view my tent from a distance and hope that something creeps up at some point in the night to investigate the human talking in the tent. Once again, playing to my best chance -- the thermal. Will it fool a sasquatch?  Maybe, if I'm silent and it comes by after I've settled in to my viewing spot.

 

If this doesn't work, I'll go back to trying a backpacker-alone-in-the-woods approach where I do normal things and make normal noises. 

 

 

[SWWASAS]

What if really boils down to there is no easy or sure way to make contact.    Too many variables and the individual BF involved are the biggest one.  If it were easy we would have albums of pictures.    I have always thought when I hear about aggressive BF that chase humans out of the woods, that might be the best chance to get a photograph.    There are some places like in Northern WA that have a lot of those aggressive BF reports.    Problem being that some BF having a tantrum is probably the most dangerous kind you can encounter.   It would take a special human to be calm enough to turn around and take a picture when being chased.   .  Special to the point of maybe being nuts to do it.    Since most BF are reclusive and avoid conflict,  something must be causing the aggressive behavior in those that do it.   Perhaps they or a relative has been shot at some point in time?   Or perhaps the BF has some sort of mental issue or disease.    Either one puts a human in danger.   While I have over 10 years in the field without harm solo,   I would never suggest that dealing with BF is not without risk.     You might just encounter one who has had a bad experience with humans.   Those that try to portray BF like the one in Harry and the Henderson's,   a big furry teddy bear,  are in denial.   

[BobbyO]

18 hours ago, MIB said:

I prefer a balance of noise that draws attention and curiosity without being threatening.    Having 1-2 friends can make that easier.    Talk.   Joke.   Laugh.   Cut some firewood.   Fish.   If one of the friends is a kid, play catch.   Mixed gender, mixed age.   Look like a family having fun, not like a military unit doing covert ops.   Be comfortable in  your environment, project calmness and confidence.  No bluster, no acting all tough to cover fear of the woods and fear of the dark.   Lot of people don't seem to know the difference.   I think 4 people is absolute max .. too many eyes from camp makes their approach risky.   I do not try to do serious bigfooting with larger groups.   There are things to do, share info, enjoy friends' company, practice camp cookery, and you can surely look for tracks and listen for distant sounds, but the odds of them approaching us goes down when the group is too large ... IMHO anyway.   Not impossible, just less likely.

 

By myself, I do roughly the same thing but with less noise.    Still, the sound of chopping wood carries.    Then get out in the open along a lake or stream and be seen.   

 

The important things are to be interesting and don't not to appear sneaky, aggressive, or afraid ... in other words, appear safe to approach.

 

MIB

 

Safe to approach, be normal and be predictable if you have the ability to be somewhere longish term.

 

That appears to be the way and i think predictability is key, i think it gives an element of confidence and an element of control to them.

[MIB]

3 hours ago, SWWASAS said:

Special to the point of maybe being nuts to do it. 

 

That might be me.      My plan, next time I get "pushed", if there is a next time, is to just sit down.    From sitting, you can neither attack  nor flee, so you reduce the appearance of threat and you demonstrate willingness / capacity to manage your fear.    Both of those indicate lower risk to the BF.     Realistically, you're not going to outrun them if they decide you're prey, you'll just die tired.   Seems to me you might as well try to play the cards some other way. 

 

MIB

[SWWASAS]

I have wondered if we should be using the open palm hand raised signal the NA used to indicate to other NA they were friendly and unarmed.   Certainly sitting down could be even better but might be construed as signaling defeat like the NA singing their death song.    Maybe sit down and say "Hey want to talk?"    The Quinault elders emphasized lowering your eyes almost into a bow when face to face with BF.   I suspect it is to allow BF to leave without being watched.  I may lower my head but not to the point of not watching the exit.    If you think about it some NA actually had interaction to the point of trading with BF so must have established at least hand signal communication.    The NA also used hand signals to communicate with other tribes without a common language.   Maybe BF wonder why we don't communicate in the old ways any more.   Certainly if chimps and gorillas can communicate with hand signals to humans,   BF are capable of it.        I certainly talk to them when I think they are nearby and can hear.    That has to communicate that I am not hostile and want to treat them as equals.  Other than a growl have never heard anything back.    Since the French were in the PNW far longer than English speakers,   maybe we are trying to use the wrong language.   Some claim the swamp apes of Florida use Spanish words perhaps for the same reason.   The Spanish were around far longer than English speakers.  

[Madison5716]

My plan is usually to be quiet and non-threatening. However, I have also sat in the dark and played my harmonica - poorly - in hopes of interesting them. 

[hiflier]

40 minutes ago, Madison5716 said:

I have also sat in the dark and played my harmonica

 

@Madison5716 That's a fine approach IMHO.

[JKH]

On 8/4/2020 at 3:11 AM, wiiawiwb said:

If I am only staying in the woods for the weekend, an overnight, or even for just the day, how will it know I'm there?  One option is to be quiet and hope the area was perfectly chosen because a sasquatch is already there or just be lucky enough that it is passing through. Option two, is to purposely be vocal, or visual, enough to draw it in while I'm there. 

 

I've got my own MO, which I'll describe later, but am curious about yours. Have you tried both options and which method do you prefer now?

 

If they're around, they probably know you're there and will check you out closely after dark, IMO. It's kinda their job, lol. BFRO coined the term "campstalkers" for the way they behave at some campgrounds, so I think those can be fine places to investigate.

Edited August 6, 2020 by JKH

[wiiawiwb]

If an approach is for them to know you're there,  we have to signal them somehow. Let's say they have a 12 square-mile domain. They're not going to know you're even in the area if they're a mile or two away. So something has to be done to let them know of your whereabouts.

 

How does that happen? Some form of sound communication has to occur. This is why I've used a single wood knock.  I'm usually near water so the sound can echo farther. 

 

What other means have worked for you to "signal" them you're location?

[Moonface]

^Have any of these strategies yielded a sighting?